One Open Door
by WarriorQueen 14
Summary: It had been ten long years, but all Princess Elsa really needed was one open door. Pre-Frozen AU. Two-shot.
1. Kai

**A/N: So this is my first try at a one-shot. Depending on the response it gets, I might add a second chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own Frozen, only my plot.**

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><p>"Princess Elsa?"<p>

"Yes, Kai?" the eighteen-year-old responded, curling and uncurling her fingers inside her white gloves.

"Princess Elsa, I'm afraid I have some bad news. It's about your parents." The butler's somber tone could be heard even through the bedroom door.

"Oh no, no, no," Elsa muttered, clenching her hands and watching, helpless, as a carpet of ice slowly grew beneath her feet.

"They were caught in a storm on the way back from Corona. Their accompanying ship made it home, but the flagship was lost. I'm terribly sorry, your highness," Kai told her.

"No, this can't be happening," whispered Elsa, sinking to her knees on the frozen floor. Her parents had been her rock, the only point of stability in her turbulent and miserable life. And now they were gone. What was she supposed to do? Who would help her control her magic? How could she rule the entire kingdom on her own?

Outside the room, Kai cleared his throat. "Princess Elsa, this is highly improper of me, but may I come in?"

"No, I-I need some time alone. You should go tell Anna. Please," Elsa instructed.

"Gerda is telling her right now. Your highness, are you sure you wouldn't like some company?" Kai asked again.

"I'm sorry, Kai, but as acting regent, I order you to leave," Elsa commanded. "Please, I'm not safe right now," she added quietly, her voice breaking as tears pooled at the corners of her eyes.

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><p>Kai's heart broke for the young woman on the other side of the door. She was too young to be saddled with as heavy of a burden as she bore, in addition to the fresh grief of losing not one, but both parents. And to make matters worse, she had isolated herself from everyone, so that she had no one to help or comfort her.<p>

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><p>Elsa curled into a ball on the floor, icy tears flowing down her cheeks. As she grieved over her proud, regal father and her kind, compassionate mother, she heard the click of the door opening. "Kai-," she began.<p>

"I'm sorry, your highness, but your father declared _me_ acting regent in his stead until you come of age. That means that in times of emergency, I am not required to follow your orders. I believe this qualifies as a time of emergency," stated Kai.

She felt a pair of large hands on her shoulders, and looked up to find Kai kneeling in front of her. Elsa tried to flinch away, but he held firm.

"Elsa," said Kai, dropping the formalities, "I have served the royal family of Arendelle for as long as I can remember. I was your father's chief advisor. But not only that, I was both your father and mother's trusted friend. Now I can't pretend to understand what you're going through right now, but I want you to know that Gerda and I always thought of you as the daughter we never had, and we are here for you, if you ever need us."

"But why would you choose me? Especially after the accident? I'm not a good daughter," Elsa replied in a small voice.

"Oh, Elsa, we don't think any less of you because of your abilities. They're a part of who you are, and you can't change that. That doesn't make you a bad daughter," Kai reassured.

"But I hurt Anna. That makes me a bad sister. Sisters are supposed to protect each other," Elsa protested.

"Yes, but you didn't mean to hurt her. You said yourself, it was an accident. Accidents happen, mistakes are made. No one's perfect. That's what makes us human. You wanted to protect Anna, and you tried to protect her. You've been trying and trying ever since. That's what counts, and that's what makes you one of the best people I know. You are incredibly selfless, and caring, and kind. Those are the most important things, the things that people should see when they look at you. Those are the things that you should see when you look at yourself. Your abilities are part of you, like your eye color or height, but they don't define you," Kai told her.

"Th-thank you, Kai. I guess I never thought of it like that," Elsa sniffled. "But I still can't control it. I don't know what to do. And I-I just miss them so much!" she exclaimed, collapsing onto Kai's shoulder and sobbing. She felt Kai's arms around her, and this time she didn't flinch away. Elsa hadn't realized how much she had longed for human contact until now, when she finally allowed herself to be embraced.

"There, there, Elsa. It'll be alright. Everything will be alright," soothed Kai, stroking her hair gently as a light flurry of snow fell around them.

"Thank you again, Kai. I-I don't know where I'd be without you," Elsa whispered gratefully.

"No need to thank me, Elsa. You've gone through so much more fear and worry in your life than anyone should ever have to experience. It's time you got a little love," said Kai.

"Wait a minute." Elsa pulled out of the embrace and looked around at the snow-covered room.

"Your highness?" Kai questioned.

"Love counteracts fear. Fear will be my enemy," Elsa muttered to herself. Suddenly she stood up, swiftly yanking off her gloves and tossing them to the side. "That's it, Kai! Love will thaw!"

The butler stood speechless as Elsa spread her arms, palms up, in front of her. Then she raised them slowly upward, concentrating on her beloved sister Anna, her parents, may they rest in peace, and Kai and Gerda, her second family. All the ice and snow lifted from the room and condensed into a single shimmering snowflake the size of a dinner plate. Elsa brought her hands together over her head, then gently pushed them outward, dissipating the snowflake into the air.

The victory-filled silence was broken by the sound of Kai clapping. "Congratulations, your highness! Well done!" he exclaimed, opening his arms wide. Without hesitation, Elsa walked up and hugged him. "I'm so proud of you, Elsa," he whispered. "And I'm sure your parents would be too."

A fresh tear, this one from happiness, trickled down Elsa's cheek. At long last, she had found the answer, though it lay not in concealing, but in feeling. Feeling the most powerful emotion of all. Love. "I'm sure they would be," she smiled.

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><p><strong>Let me know what you think in reviews!<strong>


	2. Anna

**A/N: Well, I finally wrote that second chapter I mentioned. This will be the last chapter! I'll probably be writing more one-ish-shots in the future though. Disclaimer: I don't own Frozen, only my plot. Enjoy!**

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><p>"Your highness, are you sure you want to do this? We understand if you don't."<p>

"No, Gerda, I want to do this. I'm just a little nervous, is all," the platinum blonde princess admitted shakily. Small crystals of ice were forming in her footsteps and she had donned her gloves once again, but she was finally doing it. She was going to talk to her sister.

"That's perfectly understandable, your highness. Ten years is a long time," Kai reassured her. "And your highness, you may want to look at the floor."

Elsa glanced down and saw the trail of frost she was leaving. "Oh, sorry."

"No need to be sorry, dear, we know you're trying your best to learn control," Gerda replied soothingly.

"Thank you. But I still want to clean this up a bit," said Elsa. She slipped one glove off and pointed her hand at the ice. Then, scrunching her eyebrows in concentration, she focused on Anna and flicked her wrist up, causing all the ice to evaporate. Hearing sniffling, she turned around to find Gerda tearing up.

"That was absolutely amazing, your highness. I must say, when Kai told me that you had figured out the trick to controlling it, I didn't believe him," she admitted.

"I can see why," Elsa agreed, letting out a half-laugh. "When I thawed my room, I could scarcely believe it myself."

"It's really an incredible achievement," Kai declared.

"Well, it's all thanks to you, Kai. Your words gave me hope in my darkest moment. You helped me discover my self-worth. And you helped me realize that love is the answer," Elsa told him, smiling.

"Thank you, your highness, but don't underestimate yourself," replied Kai.

"Sorry to cut this conversation short, but Princess Anna is waiting for us," reminded Gerda.

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><p>Anna sat on her bed, wondering why Gerda had insisted it was so urgent that she see her. It had been only a few hours since the matron had told her about the death of her parents, but Gerda had seemed almost happy when she found Anna and told her to wait in her room.<p>

She flopped backwards onto her mattress, suddenly remembering a time when she had done something similar, before Elsa shut her out.

_"Anna, go back to sleep," Elsa murmured drowsily. "I just can't," Anna announced dramatically, flopping backwards on top of her sister. "The sky's awake, so I'm awake, so we have to play."_

A knock sounded at her door, dragging Anna back into the present.

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><p>Elsa waited apprehensively as the door opened and Anna appeared in the doorway. "What is it, I- Wait, Elsa?"<p>

"Yes, it's me. This is a bit of a role reversal," Elsa commented awkwardly, thinking back on all the times Anna had knocked on her door.

"Elsa? You're really here? I'm not dreaming, am I?" questioned Anna, reaching out to touch Elsa's face.

"No, you're awake. I'm actually here," Elsa informed her, taking an unconscious step back. "I wanted to explain why I...," she trailed off, biting her lip.

"Why...you shut me out?" Anna asked tenatively.

"Yes," confirmed Elsa. She pulled from her sleeve the folded sheet of paper where she had written everything she wanted to say, but as she glanced at it, the words seemed fake. She crumpled it up and tossed it to the side. "You should know the truth. Do you remember when we were little, and we used to play in the snow and build snowmen?"

Anna nodded. "Yeah, we'd go outside in the wintertime and play."

"Well, we did all that, but not just outside or during the winter. You see, I have this magic, where I can create snow and ice. You loved it. I would make it snow in the ballroom, and we would play just as if it was really winter." Anna looked confused, so Elsa took off one glove and created a spray of snowflakes that hung in midair.

"But if you had these powers when we were little, how come I don't remember?" asked Anna.

"Because there was an accident," Elsa managed, choking up as she spoke. "We were playing in the ballroom one night, and we played this game where you would jump off a snow pile, and I would catch you by making another one underneath you. You were having so much fun, but you were going so fast, and I couldn't keep up with you. I tripped, and you jumped, and I tried to catch you, but I hit you in the head. You...you got knocked out. I thought you were dead."

Anna stood speechless, her mouth open in astonishment.

Gathering her composure, Elsa continued, "Our parents took us to a group of rock trolls up in the mountains. The leader healed you by removing your memories of my magic, and he told me that my power would get stronger. He said there was beauty in it, but also great danger, and he said that fear would be my enemy. Father was scared that people would be afraid of me if they knew I had magic, so he locked the gates and separated the two of us."

"I can understand locking the gates, but why separate us? I'm not afraid of you," said Anna.

"Actually, Father only said not to reveal my magic to you. But I was so afraid of hurting you again. I knew the accident was, well, an accident, but for some reason, I always blamed myself. I was afraid to even be around you, because I thought I would hurt you. Over time, I became the same way with Mother and Father. I haven't let anyone touch me for six years."

"You're talking to me now. What changed?" she asked.

"After I learned our parents were dead, I was devastated. Kai sort of forced his way in and talked to me. He told me what I needed to hear, that it wasn't my fault, that I was still a good person. And he helped me realize that love was the answer all along. I finally learned how to control my magic, and that gave me enough courage to come and talk to you. Anna, I'm so sorry for shutting you out. Will you forgive me?" Elsa pleaded.

"Of course, Elsa! Of course I forgive you! It's not your fault!" exclaimed Anna, wrapping her arms around her sister. Elsa hesitated for a fraction of a second, then returned the hug. Instantly something was fulfilled within her, the longtime desire to embrace her sister, finally realized after ten years.

"Actually, I kind of thought it was my fault. I thought I had done something wrong, so you hated me and didn't want to play with me anymore," Anna admitted.

"Oh, Anna, it was the exact opposite. I loved you so much that I stayed away, because I thought you would be safer. I love you, Anna," Elsa sobbed.

"I love you too, Elsa. Nothing will ever come between us again," declared Anna as she too began to cry.

"Nothing will ever come between us again," repeated Elsa. "I promise."

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